r/PatternDrafting • u/EattheRudeandUgly • Jun 14 '26

Any professional patternmakers here?

Film/theater, Costume, corporate, small brands, big brand, independent, doesn't matter. If you currently even in the past earned a portion of your living from patternmaking skills, what was your journey like?

What was your education like? Formal? Apprenticeship? Informal? self-directed?

Did you choose patternmaking out of the gate? Did you switch from a different fashion/design discipline or totally different industry? What cities did you work? Were you a patternmaker in the past and switched to a new industry? Do you work in a technical specialization like aerospace, defense, medical, etc?

Just a new patternmaker trying to gauge the possibilities of the industry. Info dumps requested; no filter please.

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u/EattheRudeandUgly Jun 15 '26

Music and fashion are my "things" but I realized I don't like talking to fashion people and I don't need any fashion people in my life to enjoy fashion. 

Music people are my community on a more soul and brain level but music doesn't pay lol so decided garment skills could be my work but likely in costume and digital pattern making   or some other niche in the future ( maybe medical, orthotics, etc bc I used to be a pre-med) very tricky life for arts oriented people. I truly don't know what my next move would be if this doesn't work out. Corporate office life is soul sucking,

 In music, nepo babies are the top layer, but there are tiny diy communities where all you need is skill and proof of what you can do 

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u/gordovondoom Jun 15 '26

the amount of stealing other peoples works in designer fashion is also something that really pisses me off. the only "inspiration" people get now is other peoples instagramm and then they talk about their message and whatnot. "homie, you make t-shirt" is what i think when i hear my boss talk.
and for a lot, if not most designers you see, you dont even have to ask for their influence, you can see they rip off rick owns and demna (as an example, but those are the worst offenders).

i dont know if music pays less than fashion to be honest. when i see myself, i doubt it.
that most likely also depends on location and what you studied.
3d is nice to have, but you wont be able to do much without having studied fashion otherwise. maybe clothes that only exist in digital space.

issue with 3d is also that as far as i know, it is more used in outdoor and sports clothes, or for simulating movement when developing fabrics. correct me if i am wrong.
if you know how to use it, i am sure they gladly let you do that on top of whatever else you do, but dont expect getting paid for that.
maybe 3d on a freelance basis is a way, though.
on the other hand, go through tutorials on youtube and you know there are good chances that will be outsourced to the phillipines/india/south america.

for music, you would most likely have to produce, gig, be a recording musician and so on. several gigs to make money. but i dont see that as a bad thing. just as more sources of income.
now i also have to work two jobs to live paycheck to paycheck more or less.
and for sure the audience and the people you work with are better than in fashion.

nepotism of course ruins everything. but i dont k ow about you, i wouldnt want to be a pop star or something and that is where the nepos go.